Three generations of Cazalets spend each summer in their family house. For two unforgettable summers they are safe from the storm clouds of World War II. These are sunlit days of childish games, lavish family meals and picnics on the beach.

The long, dark days of struggle provide the background to this book in the Cazalet Chronicle. As the war enters its fourth year, chaos has become a way of life, as the family find the battle for survival echoes the confusion in their lives.

It is the 1950s and as the Cazalets beloved matriarch, the Duchy, passes away, she takes with her the last remnants of a world of great houses and servants, of class and tradition in which the Cazalets have thrived. Louise, now divorced, becomes entangled in a painful affair, while Polly and Clary must balance marriage and motherhood with their own